JEx  ICthrta 

SEYMOUR  DURST 


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BOARD  OF  SUPERVISORS, 


APRIL  16,  1855. 


The  Special  Committee  appointed  to  investigate  the  pro- 
priety of  rebuilding  the  Fordham  Bridge,  presented  the 
following  report  thereon;  and  also,  on  the  importance 
of  the  navigation  of  the  Harlem  river,  which  was  laid 
on  the  table  and  ordered  to  be  printed. 

D.  T.  VALENTINE,  Clerk. 


The  Committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  annexed  com- 
munication from  the  Commissioner  of  Repairs  and  Sup- 
plies; in  relation  to  the  importance  and  necessity  of  repair- 
ing or  rebuilding  the  bridge  across  the  Harlem  river, 
known  as  the  Fordham  or  Hadley  Bridge,  respectfully 

REPORT: 

That  they  have  given  the  subject  careful  attention,  having 
twice  visited  the  bridge,  examined  its  location,  and  con- 
sulted with  various  parties,  interested  and  disinterested, 
familiar  with  the  importance  of  the  matter,  and  they  are 
fully  satisfied  that  there  exists  an  absolute  necessity  for 
immediate  action  of  some  kind,  on  the  part  of  either  the 
Board  of  Supervisors  or  the  Common  Council,  in  relation 
to  the  subject  referred  to  them. 


25 

2  NM3 

In  the  prosecution  of  their  inquiries,  the  attention  of 
your  Committee  has  been  called  to  some  matters  of  public 
interest,  which  were  not,  perhaps,  entirely  within  the  scope 
of  the  subject  entrusted  to  them,  but  yet,  in  such  degree 
connected  with  it,  so  far  as  they  relate  to  obstructions  in 
the  navigation  of  the  Harlem  river,  as  to  justify  a  some- 
what elaborate  consideration  in  this  report. 

In  examining  the  question  submitted  to  them,  your  Com- 
mittee became  deeply  impressed  with  the  vast  interests 
involved,  to  the  city  at  large,  as  well  as  to  the  owners  of 
upland  on  the  margin  of  the  Harlem  river,  in  establishing 
'-and  maintaining  a  free  and  unobstructed  navigation, 
through  Speyten  Duyvel  Creek,  from  the  North  to  the 
East  river.  This  navigation,  for  vessels  of  considerable 
size,  is  now  comparatively  unobstructed,  from  the  East 
river  to  the  old  bridge,  which  your  Committee  was  ap- 
pointed to  examine,  so  that  within  the  last  three  or  four 
years,  steamboats  have  made  pleasure  trips  from  this  city 
to  its  abutments  through  all  the  draw-bridges  on  the  route, 
as  well  as  the  High  bridge.  The  old  bridge  under  con- 
sideration, forms  the  only  absolute  barrier  to  vessel  and 
steamboat  navigation  to  King's  bridge,  which  is  less  than 
half  a  mile  beyond  it,  on  the  New  York  side,  although  the 
bridges  are  nearly  a  mile  and  a  half  distant  from  each 
other,  on  the  Westchester  shore;  and  your  Committee  are 
satisfied,  from  the  information  they  obtained,  that  upon 
the  removal  of  the  abutments  of  the  old  bridge,  or  its  re- 
construction with  a  draw,  there  will  be  no  difficulty  in 
vessels  drawing  twelve  feet  of  water,  passing  directly 
from  the  East  river  to  the  easterly  sido  of  King's  bridge, 
which  is  not  more  than  t,vo  or  three  hundred  feet  from 
the  navigable  waters  of  Speyten  Duyvel  Creek,  which  are 


3 


competent  to  carry  a  draft  of  fifteen  feet  of  water  to  the 
North  river. 

The  obstructions  to  free  navigation,  at  this  point,  which 
consist  of  King's  bridge  itself,  the  old  mill,  which  stands 
•  directly  over  tide  water,  and  the  dam  which  has  been 
made  there,  to  obtain  a  head  of  water  and  create  a  fall, 
can  be  readily  removed  for  a  comparatively  trifling  expen- 
diture, and  thus  can  be  secured  an  uninterrupted  naviga- 
tion around  the  entire  territory  of  our  city  and  county, 
the  value  of  which,  in  time  to  come,  can  hardly  be  esti- 
mated. 

The  artificial  impediments  in  the  way  of  vessel  naviga- 
tion, to  which  we  have  alluded,  being  removed,  as  they 
might  and  should  have  been,  years  ago,  when  the  people  of 
that  neighborhood  ceased  to  have  occasion  for  the  use  of 
a  grist  mill,  and  when  the  questionable  right  granted  to 
McComb,  by  the  state,  to  maintain  his  dam  across  tide- 
water, and  to  prohibit  navigation  by  the  location  of  his 
mill,  became  void;  the  whole  difficulty  in  taking  vessels 
from  the  East  to  the  North  river,  through  this  passage, 
will  be  overcome.    The  waters  of  the  two  great  rivers 
will  then  unite,  and  allow  a  free  transportation  of  sloop?, 
schooners,  steamboats  and  barges,  from  one  to  the  other, 
with  the  tide,  through  a  channel  allowing  a  draft  of  at 
least  twelve  feet  of  water,  the  entire  distance,  interrupted 
only  by  the  necessary  draw-bridges,  which  it  will  be  re- 
quisite to  maintain. 

Once  open  this  navigation,  which  may  be  so  easily  ac- 
complished, and  we  will  have  secured  an  advantage  of 
almost  incalculable  value  to  our  city,  and  to  the  trade  and 
commerce  of  our  state.    Its  value  to  those  engaged  in  the 


coasting  trade,  can  hardly  be  estimated,  when  we  consider 
what  will  be  saved  to  vessels  laden  with  produce  or  mer- 
chandise, bound  from  the  North  river  to  eastern  ports,  or 
desiring  to  land  bricks,  lumber,  coal  or  other  freight  in 
the  upper  portion  of  our  city,  in  avoiding  the  dangers, 
expense  and  loss  of  time  involved  in  a  voyage  down  the 
North  river,  around  the  Battery,  up  East  river,  and 
through  Hell  Gate,  a  distance  of  about  twenty-five  miles,  of 
very  hazardous  navigation.  The  same  saving  of  distance, 
time,  danger  and  expense,  will,  of  course,  be  secured  to 
vessels  of  a  similar  character,  from  the  upper  part  of  the 
city  or  the  Eastern  States,  bound  to  Albany,  or  any  other 
place  on  the  North  river. 

The  amount  of  coasting  trade  and  commerce  which 
would  avail  itself  of  such  a  short  and  direct  cut  from  one 
of  our  noble  rivers  to  the  other,  would  unquestionably  be 
immense,  and  your  Committee  regret  that  it  is  not  in  their 
power  to  furnish  the  data  upon  which  to  found  a  reliable 
estimate  of  its  extent  and  importance.  Every  business- 
man, however,  will  readily  comprehend  something  of  its 
magnitude,  and  directly  perceive  the  vast  advantages  to 
be  secured  to  it,  as  well  as  to  our  city,  by  the  opening  of 
this  convenient  and  perfectly  practicable  "  North-west 
Passage"  from  Long  Island  Sound  to  the  Hudson  river. 

Again,  when  we  consider  the  great  addition  this 
opening  of  navigation,  as  above  contemplated,  will  make 
to  the  value  of  the  real  estate  of  the  city,  by  rendering 
available,  for  commercial  purposes,  a  now,  almost  useless  wa- 
ter front  of  about  fifteen  miles  in  length,  and  its  inevitable 
tendency  to  hasten  the  improvement,  and  rapidly  increase 
the  population  nnd  business  of  the  Twelfth  Ward,  by  the 


erection  of  wharves,  and  the  location  of  manufactories 
and  store-houses,  to  which  it  is  desirable  to  have  access  by 
navigable  water,  all  along  the  shores  of  this  capacious 
inlet  from  both  of  our  great  rivers,  we  are  led  to  wonder 
that  the  attention  of  our  city  or  county  government  has  not 
before  been  seriously  given  to  a  subject,  which  forced  itself 
so  prominently  upon  the  consideration  of  your  Committee. 

The  admirable  adaptation  of  the  shores  of  the  Harlem 
river  for  the  location  of  large  factories,  iron  foundries, 
machine  shops,  and  other  descriptions  of  business  requiring 
convenience  to  navigable  water,  wTill  be  perfectly  appar- 
ent to  all  who  will  give  them  an  examination;  while  at 
the  same  time,  there  is  no  place  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
city  capable  of  affording;  such  conveniencies  for  extensive 
trade  in  lumber,  brick,  and  other  building  materials — for 
stone  yards,  steam  mills,  &c. 

Leaving  entirely  out  of  the  question  the  great  advan- 
tages your  Committee  have  already  enumerated,  and 
which  must  inevitably  be  secured,  upon  the  removal  of  the 
obstructions  to  navigation  through  this  important  M  arm 
of  the  sea,"'  at  and  near  King's  bridge,  we  are  persuaded 
that  there  are  still  other  inducements  which  ought  to 
stimulate  our  corporate  authorities  to  engage  in  the  work 
of  clearing  out  the  Harlem  river  and  rendering  its  naviga- 
tion available.  The  saving  which  will  accrue  to  our  own 
citizens,  who  are  yet  to  erect  the  great  multitude  of  build- 
ings that  are  destined,  within  the  next  twenty-five  years, 
to  cover  the  territory  of  the  Twelfth  and  Nineteenth 
Wards,  in  the  item  of  building  materials  alone,  to  say 
nothing  of  fuel  and  provisions,  will,  unquestionably,  many 
times,  defray  all  the  expense  that  need  be  incurred  in 


6 


establish! ii g  and  maintaining  a  navigable  channel  of  twelve 
feet  in  depth,  through  Speyten  Duyvel  Creek,  from  the 
Hudson  river  to  Long  Island  Sound. 

The  price  of  lumber,  brick  and  other  materials,  at  Har- 
lem and  Yorkville,  has  always  been  considerably  more 
than  in  other  portions  of  the  city,  on  account  of  the 
difficulty  attending  their  delivery.     The  entire  reverse 
of  this  would  be  the  case,  if  vessels  could  go  from 
the  North  river  to  those  places,  through  Speyten  Duyvel 
Creek.    A  cargo  of  lumber,  brick  or  stone,  coming  down 
the  North  river,  destined  for  building  in  Harlem,  York- 
ville, or  even  in  any  part  of  the  Nineteenth  or  Twenty- 
first  Wards,  or  perhaps  in  the  Eleventh,  Thirteenth  or 
Eighteenth  Wards,  could  be  delivered  at  considerable  less 
cost,  if  brought  through  the  Harlem  river,  than  if  sub- 
jected to  the  delay  and  consequent  expense  involved  in  a 
circumnavigation  of  the  Battery,  Corlaer's  Hook  and  Hell- 
gate,  amid  the  dangers  of  collision  with  the  ferry  boats, 
steamers  and  numerous   other   vessels  that  constantly 
crowd  our  waters  in  the  lower  part  of  the  city;  a  voyage 
which  sometimes  requires  two  or  three  days  to  accom- 
plish.   Even  now,  the  brick-makers  on  the  North  river 
will  deliver  their  merchandise  at  King's  bridge  at  prices 
from  twenty-five  to  fifty  cents  less,  per  thousand,  than  they 
will  at  Harlem,  Yorkville,  or  even  at  Kipp's  Bay,  in  the 
East  river.    The  people  in  those  localities  are  subjected 
to  these  increased  prices  solely  on  account  of  the  trifling 
obstructions  in  the  navigation  existing  at  and  near  King's 
bridge,  which  extend  but  a  few  rods,  and  but  for  which 
they  would  be  supplied  at  the  same  prices  that  govern  such 
articles  on  the  North  river  side  of  the  city. 


Your  Committee  are  persuaded  that  not  one  in  a  thou- 
sand of  our  citizens,  have  the  least  idea  of  the  vast  import- 
ance and  incalculable  value  of  the  Harlem  river  to  our 
city,  or  in  the  remotest  degree,  realize  the  advantages  to 
be  derived  from  opening  its  navigation,  improving  its 
water  front,  and  rendering  it  available  to  the  business  of 
commerce  and  trade.  The  time,  however,  is  not  far  dis- 
tant when  the  waters  and  the  shores  of  this  now  neglected, 
uselessly  obstructed  and  beautiful  river,  will  cease  to  be 
regarded  with  indifference  by  ourmuncipal  government  or 
our  enterprising  citizens. 

What  the  Seine  is  to  Paris,  and  even  more  useful  and 
important,  the  Harlem  river  is  destined  to  become,  to  this 
great  metropolis,  when  its  population  shall  expand,  as  it 
surely  must,  till  it  becomes  as  dense  upon  either  margin  of 
that  navigable  tide-water,  as  it  now  is  in  any  part  of  our 
city.  It  certainly  requires  no  great  stretch  of  the  imagi- 
nation, at  this  day,  to  believe  that  the  child  is  now  born, 
who  will  live  to  see  the  Harlem  river  near  the  centre  of 
the  immense  population  of  the  great  emporium  of  com- 
merce, capital  and  American  enterprise. 

In  this  view  of  the  ultimate  destiny  of  our  city,  your 
Committee  regard  the  opening  of  the  navigation  of  the 
Harlem  river,  and  it3  preservation  from  further  obstruc- 
tions and  encroachments,  as  a  matter  of  the  very  highest 
public  importance;  and  they  have  no  hesitation  in  recom- 
mending that  immediate  measures  be  taken  to  establish  a 
permanent  exterior  line,  upon  both  its  shores,  throughout 
its  entire  length,  from  the  East  to  the  North  river,  where 
the  same  has  not  already  been  fixed,  so  that  its  navigable 


8 


channel  may  be  unmistakably  defined  and  protected  from 
all  further  incumbrances. 

The  northern  boundary  of  our  city  and  county  extends 
to  the  opposite  shore,  and  our  jurisdiction  covers  the 
entire  navigable  portion  of  the  river,  it  being  thus  defined 
in  our  ancient  city  charter,  as  well  as  by  the  Revised 
Statutes  of  the  State,  which  fix  the  boundaries  of  the 
several  counties: — "Beginning  at  Spey ten  Duyvel  Creek, 
where  the  same  empties  itself  into  the  Hudson  river,  on 
the  Westchester  side  thereof,  at  low-water-mark,  and  run- 
ning thence  along  said  creek,  at  low-water-mark  on  the 
Westchester  side  thereof,  to  the  East  river  or  Sound,"  &c. 
Although  Westchester  county  is  quite  as  deeply  interested 
as  this  city,  in  any  improvements  that  may  be  made  upon 
this  river,  and  the  property  of  her  citizens  upon  its  margin 
will  share  equally  with  that  of  ours,  all  the  benefits 
that  may  accrue  in  opening  its  navigation,  making  the 
necessary  survey  and  marking  out  its  channel,  it  is  not 
probable  that  she  will  be  willing  to  share  in  the  expense 
that  may  attend  these  operations,  on  the  ground  that  she 
possesses  no  jurisdiction,  and  that  the  expenditure  is  all 
to  be  made  beyond  her  boundary  line. 

The  attention  of  your  Committee  was  called  to  several 
unwarrantable  encroachments  already  made  upon  the  ter- 
ritory and  jurisdiction  of  our  city  and  county,  by  the 
owners  of  upland  in  the  county  of  Westchester,  which 
they  deem  it  their  duty  to  bring  to  the  especial  notice  of 
the  Board  of  Supervisors  in  this  report,  and  which  clearly 
demonstrate  the  necessity  and  importance  of  immediately 
causing  the  river  to  be  surveyed  and  the  establishment  of 
an  exterior  line,  beyond  which  no  one  shall  be  allowed  to 
dock  out  on  either  side  of  the  channel. 


Between  the  High  Bridge,  and  the  Hadley  or  Fordham 
bridge,  on  the  Westchester  side,  two  piers  have  already 
been  built,  which  extend  into  the  territory  of  our  city  some 
two  or  three  hundred  feet,  and  which  are  calculated  to 
seriously  obstruct  the  navigation,  inasmuch  as  they  en- 
croach upon  the  channel,  which  it  is  important  should  be 
preserved  from  all  incumbrances  of  that  kind.  Also,  at 
King's  bridge,  besides  the  old  mill  which  occupies  a  posi- 
tion directly  in  the  middle  of  the  river,  and  which  is  now 
being  repaired,  preparatory  to  being  fitted  up  as  a  hotel, 
your  Committee  found  that  an  area  of  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty  by  three  hundred  feet  has  been  filled  in,  or 
docked  out,  froin  the  Westchester  shore,  to  a  bulkhead 
near  the  middle  of  the  river,  adjoining  the  bridge  on  the 
westerly  side,  extending  into  the  territorial  limits  of  our 
city  at  least  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet.  Besides  adding 
to  the  impediments  to  navigation  already  existing  at  this 
point,  which  must  be  eventually  removed,  this  encroach- 
ment is  designed  to  annex  nearly  an  acre  of  valuable 
ground,  originally  under  water,  and  indisputably  within 
the  limits  of  the  city  and  county  of  New  York,  to  the 
county  of  Westchester,  without  the  consent  of  our  county 
or  municipal  government.  On  the  New  York  side  also, 
a  bulkhead  has  been  erected,  extending  farther  into  the 
river  than  should  be  permitted,  if  it  be  designed  ever  to 
open  the  navigation,  to  permit  the  passage  of  vessels 
through  to  the  East  river. 

In  the  erection  of  the  bulkheads,  and  the  filling  in,  to 
which  your  Committee  have  alluded,  the  unquestionable 
rights  of  our  city  have  been  manifestly  disregarded  and 
invaded,  to  an  extent  which  demands  the  serious  and 
active  consideration  of  the  Common  Council  as  well  as 


10 


the  Board  of  Supervisors.  And  your  Committee  recom- 
mend that  the  Counsel  to  the  Corporation  be  instructed 
to  take  immediate  measures  to  have  the  rights  of  the  city 
defined,  in  a  proper  legal  tribunal,  and  the  incumbrances 
removed,  if  they  are  found  to  be  encroachments  upon  our 
territory  and  the  chartered  privileges  of  the  city,  as  we 
are  led  to  believe  they  are. 

Upon  a  considerate  review  of  the  whole  matter  referred 
to  them,  your  Committee  are  constrained  to  doubt  the  ex- 
pediency of  either  repairing  or  rebuilding  the  old  Ford- 
ham  bridge,  if  it  be  desirable  to  establish  and  maintain 
the  navigation  of  the  river,  as  they  have  proposed.  It  is 
true,  that  the  distance  between  our  city  and  Fordham  vil- 
lage is  lessened  about  a  mile  and  a  half,  by  crossing  at 
this  bridge,  instead  of  at  Kingsbridge,  and  that  its  main- 
tainance  would  be  a  great  convenience  and  saving  to  the 
people  of  that  part  of  the  township  of  West  Farms;  but 
your  Committee  are  not  convinced  that  sufficient  advan- 
tages will  be  derived  from  the  support  of  two  bridges,  so 
near  together  as  that  and  King's  bridge,  to  compensate  for 
the  expense  that  will  attend  the  reconstruction  of  one, 
and  the  necessary  annual  repairs  of  the  two. 

In  the  opinion  of  your  Committee,  a  new  draw -bridge  about 
midway  between  the  two,  as  they  now  stand,  would  answer 
all  the  purposes  of  travel  across  the  river  in  that  neighbor- 
hood, and  afford  every  requisite  convenience  that  the  best 
interests  of  the  public  will  justify,  besides  lessening  the 
impediments  to  navigation.  The  number  of  bridges  across 
the  river  should  be  as  few  as  possible,  and  two  should 
never  be  tolerated  where  one  can  be  made  to  so  complete- 
ly accommodate  the  travel,  as  at  this  point. 


11 


Your  Committee  would  therefore  recommend  that  the 
old  King's  bridge,  as  well  as  the  Hadley  or  Fordham  bridge 
be  entirely  removed,  and  that  a  substantial  new  draw- 
bridge be  erected  at  a  place  between  the  two,  in  nearly  a 
direct  line  with  the  present  traveled  road,  before  it  turns 
the  point  around  the  hill,  between  Varian's  Hotel  and 
King's  bridge.  This  road,  which  is  but  a  continuance  of 
Broadway,  a  few  rods  beyond  the  thirteenth  mile  stone, 
now  bends  around  a  high  hill,  and  runs  for  some  distance 
in  a  northerly  direction,  before  it  strikes  King's  bridge; 
and  one  important  advantage  to  be  achieved  in  the  erec- 
tion of  the  new  bridge  proposed,  will  be  to  obviate  this 
awkward  crook,  and  to  straighten  as  well  as  shorten,  the 
principal  public  thoroughfare  leading  out  of  the  county. 
This  consideration  alone,  in  the  opinion  of  your  Commit- 
tee, is  sufficient  to  warrant  the  erection  of  the  new  bridge 
and  the  discontinuance  and  removal  of  the  two  old  ones, 
as  they  have  recommended. 

The  idea  of  opening  and  maintaining  vessel  navigation 
through  Speyten  Duyvel  Creek,  from  the  North  river  to 
Long  Island  Sound,  is  by  no  means  new.  The  importance 
of  this  navigation  has  always  been  conceded;  and  in  all 
the  grants  for  bridging  and  damming  the  stream  that 
have  been  made,  from  time  to  time,  an  opening  for  boats 
and  vessels  has  invariably  been  provided  for. 

KINGSBRIDGE. 

Was  uilt  long  before  the  revolutionafy  war,  and 
your  Committee  are  not  in  possession  of  the  records 
to  show  from  what  source  the  authority  was  derived 
to  erect  it  over  tide  water.  It  has  always  been  maintain- 
ed, and  kept  in  repair,  as  a  public  highway,  at  the  expens 
of  this  city  and  county.    It  is  located  at  the  narrowes 


12 


point  on  the  whole  line  of  the  river,  and  is  so  situated, 
that  it  would  be  impracticable  to  convert  it  into  a  draw- 
bridge for  vessels  to  pass  through;  and  this  is  one  of  the 
reasons  which  induce  your  Committee  to  recommend  its 
entire  removal,  when  the  proposed  new  bridge  shall  have 
been  erected. 

THE  HARLEM  BRIDGE, 

At  the  termination  of  Third  avenue,  was  first  au- 
thorized by  an  act  of  the  legislature,  passed  March 
31st,  1790,  granting  the  privilege  to  Lewis  Morris, 
his  heirs  and  assigns.  This  grant  was  subsequently 
assigned  to  John  B.  Coles,  who,  on  the  24th  of  March, 
1795,  obtained  an  act  of  the  legislature,  authorizing 
him,  his  heirs  or  assigns  to  build  a  dam  across  the 
Harlem  river,  at  this  place,  to  be  of  stone,  and  so  built,  as 
to  answer  for  the  foundation  of  the  above-mentioned 
bridge,  as  well  as  to  collect  the  waters  of  the  river  for 
the  use  of  grist  and  other  mills.  This  act  provides  for 
building  a  lock  eight  feet  wide,  forty  feet  long,  and  a 
depth  of  water  two  feet,  at  low  water;  that  the  grantees 
shall  keep  a  man  in  attendance,  upon  said  lock,  at  all 
times;  that  the  bridge  shall  not  be  less  than  twenty-four 
feet  wide,  and  shall  be  built  within  four  years,  from  the 
passage  of  the  act;  and  that  Coles,  his  heirs  or  assigns, 
shall  keep  it  in  repair  for  sixty  years,  and  collect  tolls, 
after  which  it  shall  become  vested  in  the  people  of  the 
state. 

In  1797,  an  act  passed  the  legislature,  for  the  relief  of 
John  B.  Coles,  which,  after  giving  him  permission  to 
build  certain  roads  in  Westchester  county,  repeals  the 
clause  in  the  grant  above  referred  to,  relating  to  the  lock 
and  lock  tender,  and  extends  the  limitation  of  the  time. 


13 


Under  thi3  grant,  Coles  and  associates  built  the  present 
Harlem  bridge,  which  has  been  maintained,  to  the  present 
day,  as  a  toll  bridge,  and  which,  in  the  course  of  a  year 
or  two,  will  revert  to  the  people  of  the  state,  and  become 
a  free  public  highway,  unless  the  grant  is  renewed  by  the 
legislature. 

The  present  proprietors  of  this  bridge,  are  now  making 
application  for  a  renewal  of  this  old  grant,  and  your 
Committee  deem  it  highly  important.;  to  the  best  interests 
of  the  city,  that  active  and  efficient  measures  should  be 
taken,  on  the  part  of  the  county  and  city  government,  to 
prevent  the  passage  of  any  act,  by  the  legislature,  calcu- 
lated to  perpetuate  the  burthens  now  inflicted  upon  the 
traveling  public,  by  continuing  the  present  Harlem  bridge 
as  a  toll-bridge.  The  monopoly  has  been  long  enough  en- 
joyed by  the  grantees,  and  they  have  been,  thousands  of 
times,  remunerated  for  all  their  outlay,  in  building  the 
bridge,  and  keeping  it  in  repair  during  the  existence  of 
the  charter,  which  is  about  to  expire. 

As  it  is  not  possible  for  them  to  present  any  valid  rea- 
sons for  the  further  enjoyment  of  the  privileges  which  they 
have  had  for  the  last  sixty  years,  it  seems  hardly  probable, 
that  a  renewal  of  them  can  be  obtained  at  the  hands  of 
the  legislature,  if  the  matter  is  rightly  understood.  This 
bridge,  which  is  so  soon  to  become  free  for  the  public 
travel,  by  virtue  of  the  expiration  of  the  grant  to  Cole3; 
in  1790,  should  never  again  be  allowed  to  fall  into  the 
hands  of  private  individuals,  or  a  corporation,  with  the 
privilege  of  collecting  tolls*  It  should  be  maintained,  as 
a  public  highway,  at  the  expense  of  the  county. 


14 


THE  HADLEY  OR  FORDHAM  BRIDGE, 

Your  Committee  are  unable  to  trace  to  any  record. 
When,  by  whom,  or  by  what  authority,  it  was  erected, 
is  more  than  can  be  told  by  any  records  in  the  arch- 
ives of  our  city.  It  is  said  to  have  had  an  exist- 
ence before  the  revolution,  and  is  supposed  to  have 
been  built  by  the  proprietors  of  Fordham  Manor,  to 
afford  them  and  their  tenants  more  ready  access  to  the 
city,  and  save  them  several  miles'  travel,  to  cross 
Yonkers  Creek,  in  order  to  get  upon  the  state  road  lead- 
ing to  King's  bridge.  It  has  been  supported  always  by  the 
city  of  New  York,  and  kept  in  traveling  order  from  the 
funds  appropriated  to  roads;  the  authorities  of  Westches- 
ter county  contending,  that  inasmuch  as  the  bridge  was 
entirely  within  the  boundaries  of  New  York,  it  was  the 
duty  of  that  corporation  to  keep  it  in  repair.  It  is  now 
so  much  dilapidated,  that  your  Committee  have  no  hesi- 
tation in  recommending,  that  the  Superintendent  of  Roads 
be  directed  to  expend  no  more  money  in  endeavors  to  keep 
it  in  a  travelable  condition,  whether  their  proposition  to 
erect  a  new  bridge  be  adopted  or  rejected. 

THE  OLD  GRIST  MILL, 

At  Kingsbridge,  is  the  next  recorded  obstruction  to 
the  navigation  of  the  river.  The  grant  to  erect  this 
mill  is  very  singular,  inasmuch  as  it  was  made  by 
the  Mayor,  Aldermen  and  Commonalty  of  the  city  of 
New  York,  to  erect  buildings  in  the  middle  of  a  naviga- 
ble river,  or  "  arm  of  the  sea."  This  grant  to  Alexander 
McComb,  from  the  Mayor,  &c,  made  December  2, 1800, 
cedes  to  him  or  his  heirs  and  assigns  forever," 

"  All  that  certain  piece  or  parcel  of  land  covered  with 
water,  situate  in  the  Seventh  Ward  of  the  city,  beginning 


15 

by  west  side  of  King's  bridge,  at  low  watermark,  on  the 
north  side  of  the  river,  creek,  or  run  of  water  called 
Spuyten  Duyvcl;  thence  running  westerly  along  the  said 
creek,  at  low  water  mark  one  hundred  feet,  to  be  measur- 
ed on  a  straight  line;  thence  crossing  the  said  creek,  to  a 
place  at  low  water  mark,  one  hundred  feet  distant  from 
King's  bridge;  thence  along  the  said  creek  easterly,  at 
low  water  mark,  to  King's  bridge;  and  thence  along  the 
west  side  of  the  said  bridge;  to  the  place  of  beginning 
reserving  and  excepting  always  thereat,  a  passage  or  way 
along  the  course  of  said  creek,  fifteen  feet  wide,  to  be 
kept  clean,  open  and  unincumbered,  so  that  all  small  boats 
and  craft  may,  freely  and  without  obstruction,  pass  and  re- 
pass the  same."  &c. 

This  grant  also  contains  a  clause,  that  if  the  passage- 
way above-mentioned  is  not  kept  open,  the  Corporation 
may,  at  any  time,  re-enter,  and  dispossess  the  grantee  or 
his  heirs  or  assigns. 

It  appears  that  this  contemplated  passage-way  for  boats 
was  never  kept  open,  according  to  the  stipulations  of  the 
grant,  and  that  if  McComb  and  his  heirs  ever  possessed 
the  right  to  build  a  mill  over  the  tide  water,  by  virtue  of 
this  grant,  the  same  has  been  forfeited  by  their  non-com- 
pliance with  its  conditions.  It  has,  however,  since  been 
established  by  the  highest  courts  of  our  state,  that  neither 
the  city  Corporation,  nor  the  Legislature  even,  have  the 
power  to  authorize  any  such  erections  to  the  hindrance  of 
legitimate  navigation  in  this  river.  The  mill,  therefore, 
as  it  stands,  is  a  public  nuisance,  impeding  the  free  pas- 
sage of  vessels,  through  naturally  navigable  waters,  and  as 
such,  should  be  removed.    The  ostensible  owners  of  the 


16 


building  have  no  power  or  right  to  keep  it  there,  even  if 
they  have  fully  complied  with  the  conditions  of  the  origi- 
nal grant;  and  yet  they  are  even  now  repairing  it,  and, 
as  your  Committee  are  informed,  putting  it  in  condition 
to  be  occupied  as  a  public  hotel,  and  will-probably  hold 
possession  of  the  land  under  water,  specified  in  the  grant 
above  referred  to,  until  legally  dispossessed  by  due  pro- 
cess of  law. 

Your  Committee  would  therefore  recommend  that  the 
Corporation  Counsel  be  instructed  to  immediately  com- 
mence the  necessary  proceedings  to  determine  the  nullity 
of  the  grant  made  by  the  Mayor,  &c,  December  2,  1800, 
to  Alexander  McComb,  and  to  cause  the  building  erected 
upon  the  land  so  granted,  to  be  removed. 

The  consideration  for  the  above  lease  or  grant,  is  an 
annual  rent  of  twelve  dollars  and  fifty  cents  per  annum; 
and  all  the  privileges  granted  under  it  are  to  be  forfeited 
if  the  rent  is  not  regularly  paid.  Until  April  of  last  year, 
(1854,)  no  rents  had  been  received  upon  this  lease  for 
nearly  twenty  years.  At  that  time  the  heirs  of  McComb 
came  forward  and  paid  up  all  arrears  of  rent,  and  thus  re- 
suscitated privileges  and  rights  of  property  which  had 
been  obsolete  for  years,  and  which  had  been  clearly  for- 
feited, for  non-payment  of  rent,  even  supposing  the  city 
authorities  to  have  had  a  right  to  grant  the  lease  origi- 
nally, which  they  probably  had  not.  The  rent  for  the 
current  year  has  also  been  paid,  and  it  is  quite  probable 
that  the  present  holders  of  the  grant  will  continue  to  pay 
regularly,  so  long  as  they  are  permitted  to  hold  possession 
of  the  land  under  water,  or  are  suffered  to  maintain  a 
public  hotel  upon  it. 


IT 


It  is  a  matter  of  regret  that  the  Comptroller  should 
have  accepted  the  back  rent  upon  this  lease  instead  of 
forfeiting  it.  And  yet  there  will  probably  be  no  difficulty 
in  establishing  the  nullity  of  the  grant,  by  declaring  the  old 
mill  a  public  nuisance,  in  the  manner  prescribed  by  law. 

BRIDGE  TO  WARD'S  ISLAND. 

In  the  year  1807,  the  proprietors  of  Ward's  Island,  con- 
templating the  use  of  their  property  for  the  location  of 
factories  and  the  erection  of  a  manufacturing  village,  ap- 
plied to  the  legislature  for  authority  to  connect  it  with 
New  York  Island,  by  a  bridge.  An  act  was  passed 
February  20,  1807,  authorizing  Philip  Milldoller  and 
Bartholomew  Ward  to  build  a  bridge  across  the  Harlem 
river,  from  Milldoller's  land  to  Ward's  Island,  with  an 
opening  in  the  centre  of  not  less  than  twenty-five  feet,  and 
a  draw  of  twelve  feet  in  width.  This  bridge  was  built  as 
contemplated,  and  maintained  for  many  years,  until  the 
project  of  settling  a  large  town  on  Ward's  Island  "  died 
out,"  when  the  bridge  was  suffered  to  decay,  for  lack  of 
inducement  to  keep  it  in  repair. 

The  abutments  of  this  bridge  are  still  in  existence,  and 
it  may  become  necessary,  at  some  future  time,  to  cause 
them  to  be  removed,  as  they  are  found  to  offer  some  con- 
siderable impediment  in  the  way  of  the  navigation  through 
"  Little  Hell  Gate,"  as  well  as  the  mouth  of  Harlem 
river. 

McCOMB's  dam. 

This  dam,  at  the  termination  of  the  Seventh  avenue, 
and  which  is  now  used  as  a  bridge,  from  which  the  osten- 
sible proprietors  collect  a  toll  of  all  who  cross  it,  without 
2 


18 


any  legal  authority,  as  your  Committee  can  discover,  was 
originally  designed  to  gather  and  hold  the  waters  of  the 
river  for  the  benefit  of  the  grist-mill  at  King's  bridge, 
making  a  pond  of  the  waters  between  it  and  the  mill,  by 
preventing  their  ebbing  out,  after  the  pond  had  been 
filled  by  a  flood  tide. 

This  dam  was  erected  by  permission  of  the  legislature 
of  the  state,  which  passed  an  act,  April  8,  1813,  author- 
izing Robert  McComb,  his  heirs  or  assigns,  first  obtaining 
the  consent  of  the  Mayor  and  Com  monalty  of  New  York,  to 
build  a  dam  across  the  Harlem  river,  from  Bussing's  Point, 
in  the  Ninth  Ward  of  the  citv  of  New  York,  to  Devoe's 
Point  in  the  town  of  Westchester,  to  be  constructed  of 
earth  and  stone,  or  other  durable  materials,  with  an  open- 
ing in  the  centre,  or  other  part  thereof,  of  sufficient  width 
to  allow  the  water  to  pass  freely  through,  on  which  open- 
ing may  be  constructed  flood-gates  or  other  contrivances 
needful  to  retain  the  waters  of  the  river. 

It  also  provides,  that  the  clam  shall  be  so  constructed,  as 
to  allow  the  free  passage  of  boats  and  vessels  accustomed  to 
navigate  the  river,  either  by  means  of  a  gate-lock,  apron, 
or  other  contrivance;  that  the  grantee,  his  heirs  or  assigns, 
shall  have  at  all  times  a  person  in  attendance,  so  that  no 
unnecessary  delay  shall  happen  to  persons  wishing  to  pass 
the  same  with  boats  or  vessels.  This  law  gave  no  autho- 
ity  to  erect  a  toll  bridge,  or  to  collect  tolls  of  any  one 
who  should  pass  over  the  dam,  from  one  side  of  the  river 
to  the  other. 

In  compliance  with  the  above-named  act  of  the  legisla- 
ture, Mr.  McComb  applied  to  the  Common  Council  for 


L9 


the  consent  required,  to  erect  his  dam,  and  on  the  20th 
September,  1813,  a  resolution  was  adopted,  giving  per- 
mission to  construct  the  dam,  according  to  the  legislative 
grant,  upon  which  a  lease  was  issued,  securing  to  Mc- 
Comb  and  his  heirs  or  assigns,  forever,  all  the  land  under 
water  required  for  their  purpose,  which  now  includes  a 
considerable  amount  of  upland,  embracing  a  valuable  gore, 
between  the  road  leading  to  the  dam  and  the  Seventh 
avenue,  upon  the  payment  of  an  annual  rent  of  twelve  dol- 
lars and  fifty  cents.  One  of  the  covenants  in  this  lease 
provides,  that  if  this  rent  is  not  regularly  paid  within  ten 
days  after  the  frrst  day  of  May,  in  each  year,  the  Corpo- 
ration shall  have  a  right  to  distrain,  and  that  the  lease 
shall  be  forfeited. 

Like  the  grant  at  King's  bridge,  for  the  mill  site,  the 
rent  stipulated  in  this  lease  had  remained  unpaid  for 
about  twenty  years,  until  April  1854,  when  the  amount  in 
arrears  was  all  paid  up,  and  all  future  rents  commuted,  by 
the  execution  of  a  quit-reut  deed,  for  a  consideration  of 
two  hundred  and  eight  dollars  and  thirty-three  cents,  be- 
ing calculated  as  the  principal  upon  which  the  annual 
rent  of  twelve  dollars  and  fifty  cents  was  based.  The 
unnecessary  acceptance  of  this  back  rent,  and  the  paltry 
commutation  of  future  claims  for  rent,  upon  the  basis  pro- 
vided by  law,  invests  the  fee  of  a  very  valuable  property 
in  the  heirs  of  McComb,  which  was  clearly  forfeited  to 
the  city,  and  for  which  the  public  have  great  need.  The 
interests  of  the  city  were  clearly  lost  sight  of  in  this 
settlement,  and  in  the  execution  of  the  quit-rent  deed; 
and  yet,  it  is  very  probable  that  all  may  yet  be  restored 
to  the  city,  by  the  abrogation  of  the  original  grant  for 
non-compliance  with  other  stipulations  which  it  contains, 


20 


as  well  as  for  the  utter  disregard  which  the  grantees 
have  ever  manifested  for  the  conditions  of  the  legislative 
grant,  in  neglecting  to  provide  for  the  ready  passage  of 
vessels  through  the  dam. 

The  entire  perversion  of  both  of  the  McCoinb  grants, 
above  referred  to,  from  the  purposes  for  which  they  were 
given,  is  probably  sufficient  to  secure  their  forfeiture  in 
the  courts  of  law.  Instead  of  a  grist  mill  for  the  con- 
venience of  the  neighborhood,  which  was  contemplated  in 
the  first  grant,  a  hotel  is  to  be  established;  and  in  place 
of  a  mill  dam,  to  gather  and  hold  the  water*  of  the  river, 
for  the  purposes  of  the  mill,  in  the  second  grant,  we  have 
a  private  toll  bridge,  without  any  authority  of  law,  levy- 
ing an  involuntary  tax  upon  all  the  travel  over  an  im- 
portant avenue  leading  out  of  the  city.  An  abuse  exists 
in  suffering  toll  to  be  collected  of  those  who  pass  over  this 
dam,  which  ought  to  be  abated.  With  a  view  to  the 
establishment  of  free  travel  over  Mc Comb's  Dam,  your 
Committee  would  urge  the  immediate  prosecution  of  a 
suit  to  determine  whether  ail  the  rights  and  privileges 
originally  granted  to  McComb,  have  not  been  forfeited, 
and  whether  the  dam  does  not  belong  to  the  city,  and  may 
not  be  used  as  a  free  public  highway. 

The  fact,  that  McCoinb's  Dam,  King's  bridge,  and  the 
mill,  are  public  nuisances,  which  can  be  abated  and  re- 
moved by  any  person  having  occasion  to  navigate  the 
Harlem  river,  or  by  indictment,  has  been  established  by 
the  highest  courts  of  law  in  this  state,  in  the  decisions 
rendered  in  the  case  of  Renwick  vs.  Morris.  See  Hill's 
Reports  3d  vol.,  p.  621,  also  7th  vol.,  p.  575. 


21 


It  appears  that  in  1839,  Mr.  Lewis  Morris,  with  others, 
in  order  to  obtain  a  passage  through  McComVs  Dam  with 
steamboats  and  other  vessels,  forcibly  removed  the  dam 
between  three  of  the  abutments,  and  completely  took  away 
one  entire  abutment.  For  this  act,  Mr.  Renwick,  repre- 
senting the  heirs  of  McComb,  brought  a  suit  in  the  Supe- 
rior Court,  to  recover  damages  for  trespass,  when  the 
judge  charged  that  the  bridge  was  a  public  nuisance,  and 
that  defendant  had  a  right  to  abate  it  by  his  own  act,  in 
the  removal  of  so  much  of  the  dam  as  was  necessary  to 
make  a  safe  and  convenient  passage  for  all  vessels,  at  any 
time  of  tide,  which  had  been  accustomed  to  navigate  the 
river;  judgment  was  consequently  rendered  for  defendant. 
0  The  case  was  then  appealed  to  the  Supreme  Court,  where  the 
judgment  was  sustained,  after  able  arguments  on  both  sides. 
Mr.  Justice  Cowan,  in  rendering  the  opinion  of  the  court 
said: — "The  Harlem  river  being  navigable,  McComb  and 
his  assigns  would,  independently  of  the  statute,  have  been 
guilty  of  a  public  nuisance  in  building  the  dam.  The  only 
effect  of  the  statute  was,  to  vest  a  power  in  him  and  his 
heirs  to  build  and  maintain  the  dam  in  the  manner  pre. 
scribed  by  the  legislature. "  Not  having  so  maintained 
the  dam,  any  one  has  a  right  to  remove  it  so  far  as  it  ob- 
structs the  navigation  of  the  river.  Not  content  with 
this  decision,  the  plaintiff  carried  his  suit  to  the  Court  of 
Errors,  on  an  appeal,  where  the  judgment  of  the  courts  be- 
low was  finally  affirmed.  Chancellor  Walworth,  in  giving 
the  opinion  of  this  tribunal,  said  : — "  The  Harlem  river 
was  an  arm  of  the  sea,  and  a  public  navigable  river  ;  and 
it  was  a  public  nuisance  to  obstruct  the  navigation  thereof, 
without  authority  of  law.  The  act  of  the  legislature  did 
not  authorize  the  obstruction  of  the  navigation  of  the 


22 


river  in  the  manner  in  which  it  was  done  by  the  dam  in 
question.  The  length  of  time  which  this  public  nuisance 
had  been  continued,  did  not  legalize  it;  for  every  continu- 
ance of  the  obstruction  was  of  itself  a  nuisance." 

The  same  decisions  in  the  case  above  referred  to,  clearly 
establish  that  all  the  obstructions  to  the  navigation  of  the 
Harlem  river  for  vessels  competent  to  pass  through  its 
natural  channel,  are  public  nuisances,  which  can  be  re- 
moved by  indictment  or  otherwise,  so  far  as  they  serve 
to  impede  the  passage  of  any  water  craft  seeking  to  pass 
over  or  through  them. 

It  was  with  a  view  to  the  preservation  of  this  valuable 
navigation,  that  the  city  of  New  York  was  compelled  to 
expend  about  a  million  of  dollars  in  the  erection  of  the 
High  Bridge,  in  order  to  bring  the  Croton  water  into  its 
territory.  The  discussion  that  arose  upon  the  question  of 
building  that  noble  structure,  which  is,  doubtless,  familiar 
to  the  members  of  this  Board,  established  the  fact,  beyond 
further  doubt,  that  the  Harlem  river  is  "a  navigable  arm 
of  the  sea,"  and  that  its  navigation  cannot  be  abolished, 
even  by  the  action  of  our  state  legislature.  It  is  our 
duty  to  preserve  it,  and  improve  it,  not  only  on  account  of 
its  immense  importance  to  our  city,  but  because  of  its 
great  value  to  the  trade  and  commerce  of  our  country  be- 
tween the  states. 

With  the  same  view,  the  legislature,  in  granting  per- 
mission to  the  Harlem  and  Hudson  river  railroad  compa- 
nies, to  build  bridges  over  the  waters  of  this  river,  have 
provided  that  they  shall  maintain  draws  capable  of  ad- 
mitting the  passage  of  all  vessels  desiring  to  pass  through 
them. 


23 


It  is  perhaps  proper  to  notice,  that  near  the  middle  of 
the  river,  at  the  point  where  your  Committee  would 
recommend  the  erection  of  the  proposed  new  bridge, 
there  is  a  small  island,  oh  either  side  of  which  is  a  navi- 
gable channel.  This  island,  which,  we  are  informed,  was 
originally  but  a  small  rock,  of  not  half*  the  dimensions  it 
now  contains,  has  been  artificially  enlarged  by  the  par- 
ties who  have  held  possession  of  it  by  sufferance.  The 
Common  Council,  in  February,  1814,  voted  to  lease  this 
island  to  Robert  McComb,  for  the  term  of  twenty-one 
years,  but  your  Committee  do  not  find  any  such  lease  ex- 
isting, and  it  is  therefore  to  be  presumed  that  none  was 
ever  executed.  This  small  island,  the  fee  of  which  be- 
longs to  the  city,  may  be  incorporated  in  the  proposed 
bridge,  and  save  the  expense  of  sinking  an  artificial  abut- 
ment, or  it  can  be  removed  altogether  if  it  should  be 
deemed  advisable. 

In  consideration  of  the  various  subjects  embraced  in  this 
report,  the  attention  of  your  Committee  has  been  called  to 
the  attempts  that  have  heretofore  been  made  to  establish 
water  navigation  through  the  territory  of  our  city,  be- 
tween the  two  rivers,  otherwise  than  by  way  of  the  natu- 
ral channel  of  Spe}  ten  Duyvel  Creek,  to  which  projects 
we  will  briefly  call  the  attention  of  the  Board. 

HARLEM  CANAL. 

April  18, 1826,the  state  legislature  incorporated  the  Har- 
lem Canal  Co.,  authorizing  said  company  to  construct  a  ca- 
nal, basins,  &c.,  across  the  island  of  New  York,  anywhere 
between  Ninety-fifth  and  One  hundred  and  thirty-fifth 
streets;  and  subsequently,  April  13, 1827,  the  time  for  com- 


24 


pleting  said  canal,  was  extended  to  four  years  from  that 
date.  This  canal  had  no  direct  connection  with  the  naviga- 
tion of  the  Harlem  river,  as  it  was  designed  to  open  an  arti- 
ficial passage  for  boats  and  small  vessels,  from  the  T^ast 
to  the  North  river,  through  the  low  grounds  of  Harlem 
and  the  valley  at'Manhattanville.  The  importance  of  such 
navigation  was  at  that  time  realized  to  some  extent,  and 
a  considerable  sum  of  money  was  expended  in  the  com- 
mencement of  the  canal,  before  the  project  was  abandoned. 
The  project  of  constructing  a  canal  between  our  two 
great  rivers,  at  this  point,  is  very  feasible,  and  could,  no 
doubt,  be  made  a  very  profitable  one  in  the  hands  of  a 
private  corporation,  for  the  accommodation  of  the  immense 
trade  and  commerce  between  the  East  and  North  rivers, 
to  which  your  Committee  have  alluded,  in  another  part  of 
this  report,  if  the  natural  channel  through  the  Harlem 
river  and  Speyten  Duyvel  creek,  should  not  be  opened  for 
the  free  passage  of  vessels,  as  we  have  suggested.  The 
time,  however,  will  come,  when  a  canal  f»om  river  to 
river  at  this  point  will  be  of  vast  importance,  and  of  im- 
mense value  for  the  accommodation  of  business  in  that 
part  of  the  city,  when  its  population  shall  become  dense, 
and  the  advantage  of  water  communication  to  the  interior 
of  the  city  demonstrated,  especially  at  this,  the  widest  point 
of  our  island. 

• 

HARLEM  RIVER  CANAL. 

April  16, 1827,  the  legislature  passed  an  act  incorporating 
the  Harlem  river  Canal  Company,  authorizing  the  corpora- 
tors to  cut  a  canal  from  Speyten  Duyvel  creek  to  the  Har- 
lem river,  and  to  improve  the  navigation  of  the  Harlem  river 
for  vessels,  boats  and  other  freighting  craft,  and  also,  for 


25 


steam  and  other  boats,  to  be  used  on  said  canal  and  river, 
authorizing  said  company  to  purchase,  build,  or  hire  ware- 
houses, wharves  or  other  buildings  necessary  for  the  busi- 
ness of  the  company,  and  providing  that  the  consent  of  the 
Common  Council  of  the  city,  shall  first  be  obtained  for  the 
construction  of  the  canal,  and  that  the  same  shall  be  com- 
pleted within  two  years  from  the  date  of  the  passage  of 
the  act.  In  April,  1829,  the  work  not  being  completed, 
the  time  was  extended  two  years  from  that  date.  This 
extension  was  also  suffered  to  expire;  and  May  13,  1836, 
another  act  was  passed,  reviving  that  of  1827,  and  allow- 
ing five  years  more,  for  the  construction  of  the  canal;  pro- 
viding also,  that  all  persons  residing  on  Harlem  river 
or  Speyten  Duyvel  creek,  should  pass  through  this  canal 
at  all  times,  with  market  or  pleasure  boats,  without  charge 
of  toll.  This  corporation  was  to  continue  fifty  years,  and 
the  consent  of  the  Common  Council  was  accorded,  as  re- 
quired by  the  charter  from  the  legislature,  and  the  work 
upon  the  canal  commenced,  and  carried  to  a  considerable 
extent.  The  design  of  this  canal,  was  to  afford  water 
access  to  extensive  marble  quarries  which  it  was  intended 
by  this  company  to  open  and  work  upon  its  margin;  but 
before  the  canal  was  completed,  the  marble  was  condemn- 
ed as  unsuitable  for  building  purposes,  and  the  whole  pro- 
ject was  abandoned.  It  would,  however,  require  but  a 
small  expenditure  to  complete  the  work  which  was  com- 
menced by  this  company,  and  to  open  a  navigable  passage 
through  the  valley  at  this  point,  from  Harlem  river  to 
Speyten  Duyvel  creek.  The  actual  distance  at  this  place, 
between  the  navigable  waters  of  the  Harlem  river  flowing 
from  Long  Island  Sound,  and  those  of  Speyten  Duyvel 
flowing  from  the  Hudson  river,  is  less  than  half  a  mile, 
3 


26 

while  the  distance  through  the  natural  channel,  around 
the  Highlands,  by  way  of  King's  bridge,  is  about  three 
miles. 

The  distance  that  might  be  saved  by  the  opening  of  an 
artificial  channel  at  this  point,  has  suggested  the  idea  that 
eventually  it  might  be  found  advantageous  to  abandon  the 
natural  channel  around  by  King's  bridge,  and  make  one 
here,  of  sufficient  capacity  to  accommodate  all  vessels 
that  might  desire  to  pass  between  the  North  river  and 
the  East.  Your  Committee,  however,  adhere  to  the  plan 
of  securing  an  unobstructed  navigation  through  the  nat- 
ural channel,  by  removing  the  comparatively  trifling  in- 
cumbrances at  King's  bridge.  It  may  be  desirable  in  the 
future,  to  open  a  canal  through  this  valley,  as  well  as  at 
Manhattanville,  and  the  propriety  of  the  measure  can  only 
be  determined  by  time  and  circumstances. 

THE  EXTERIOR  LINE. 

In  a  previous  paragraph  in  this  report,  your  Committee 
have  referred  to  the  importance  of  immediately  causing  a 
survey  to  be  made  of  the  Harlem  river,  and  the  establish- 
ment of  a  water  line  upon  each  of  its  shores,  with  a  view 
to  the  preservation  of  its  channel  from  a  multiplication  of 
such  unwarrantable  encroachments  as  already  exist.  The 
legislative  warrant  for  this  survey  has  already  been  ob- 
tained, by  an  Act  passed  April  14,  1852,  which  authorizes 
the  Common  Council  to  lay  out  and  fix  a  permanent  exte- 
rior street,  "  along  the  Harlem  river,  from  the  East  river 
or  Sound,  to  the  Hudson  river,"  and  to  cause  a  map  to  be 
made,  which,  when  approved,  shall  be  filed  in  the  office  of 
the  Street  Commissioner.    This  act  also  gives  the  Com- 


27 


mon  Council  the  title  to  all  lands  under  water,  from  low 
water  mark  to  the  exterior  street  to  be  established,  and 
including  the  same. 

In  view  of  the  great  importance  of  the  subject  embraced 
in  this  report,  your  Committee  would  recommend  the 
adoption  of  the  following  resolutions  : 

Resolved,  That  it  is  inexpedient  to  rebuild  or  repair  the 
Fordham,  or  Hadley  Bridge,  and  that  the  Commissioner 
of  Repairs  and  Supplies  be,  and  he  is  hereby  instructed  to 
expend  no  more  money,  either  in  repairing  the  said  bridge, 
or  the  causeway  leading  to  it  from  the  King's  bridge  road. 

Resolved,  That  the  interests  of  the  city  and  county  will 
be  subserved,  and  the  public  convenience  promoted,  by  the 
erection  of  a  suitable  and  substantial  drawbridge  across 
the  Harlem  river,  as  a  continuation  of  Broadway,  or  the 
King's  bridge  road,  from  a  point  near  the  thirteenth  mile 
stone,  in  a  straight  line  to  the  Westchester  shore  :  and 
that,  upon  the  completion  of  such  drawbridge,  King's 
bridge,  as  now  existing,  as  well  as  the  Fordham  Bridge, 
shall  be  abolished  as  a  public  highway,  and  the  abutments 
of  each  removed,  in  order  to  facilitate  the  navigation  of 
the  Harlem  river. 

Resolved,  That  Edwin  Smith,  Civil  Engineer,  one  of  the 
City  Surveyors,  be  authorized,  and  he  is  hereby  directed, 
to  make  a  proper  survey  of  the  location,  and  devise  a  suit- 
able plan  of  a  bridge  across  the  Harlem  river,  as  pro- 
posed in  the  preceding  resolution,  to  be  submitted  to  this 
Board  for  approval,  with  estimates  of  the  probable  amount 
that  will  be  required  to  complete  it  for  the  purposes  of 
travel,  and  the  passage  through  it  of  vessels  navigating 
the  river. 


28 


Resolved,  That  the  same  surveyor,  (Edwin  Smith)  be  also 
employed  to  make  a  survey  of  the  Harlem  river,  and 
Speyten  Duyvel  creek,  and  to  make  a  map  of  said  river, 
defining  an  exterior  line,  in  accordance  with  chapter  285 
of  the  laws  of  the  state,  passed  April  14th,  1852,  on  both 
sides  of  the  river,  where  the  same  has  not  already  been 
established  ;  and  also  to  estimate  and  report  the  extent 
of  the  obstructions  to  the  navigation  of  said  river,  at  and 
near  King's  bridge,  with  a  view  to  their  ultimate  re- 
moval. 

Resolved,  That  the  Corporation  Counsel,  be  and  he  is  here- 
by directed  to  examine  the  several  grants  to  Rob't  and  Alex- 
ander McComb,  of  land  underwater,  upon  the  Harlem  riv- 
er, with  privileges  to  erect  dams  and  a  mill,  and  report  to  this 
Board,  whether  said  grants,  if  ever  valid,  have  not  been 
forfeited  ;  and  also,  whether  the  mill  and  the  dams  erected 
under  those  grants  or  leases,  cannot  be  removed  as  a  pub- 
lic nuisance,  without  infringing  upon  the  legal  rights  of 
the  heirs  or  assigns  of  the  original  lessees  or  grantees. 

Resolved,  That  the  Corporation  Counsel  be,  and  he  is 
hereby  instructed  to  commence  the  necessary  legal  pro- 
ceedings to  cause  the  removal  of  all  encroachments  upon 
the  chartered  rights  of  the  city,  to  land  under  water  upoa 
the  Westchester  shore  of  Speyten  Duyvel  creek,  by  the 
owners  of  upland,  and  to  have  said  rights  defined  by  a 
competent  tribunal. 


ANSON  HERRICK, 
NATHAN  C.  ELY, 
CUMM1NGS  H.  TUCKER, 


Special 
Committee. 


4 


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